PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — When Ervan Herring saw a rival gang member in the emergency room parking lot at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center he got a gun and tried to kill him.
Thursday, the 46-year-old was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for the February 2018 shooting.
That day, Ervan and his brother Michael Herring saw their rival in the parking lot. Ervan Herring got the gun from his brother and fired. Investigators found 6 bullet casings and more bullet strikes the the public entrance to the emergency room.
“On February 18, 2018, Mr. Herring converted a hospital – a place of healing, tranquility and care – into a crime scene,” said Multnomah County Senior Deputy DA Nathan Vasquez.
Witnesses told investigators about the suspect, which led to the eventual arrest of both Herrings in May 2018.
Michael Herring, who was a co-defendant, was acquitted at trial but is awaiting trial on gun charges related to this incident.
“Ervan Ronell Herring’s criminal record reflects a life deeply rooted in a culture of gang violence that he has helped create and perpetuate for the past three decades,” Vasquez said. “It is impossible to quantify the amount of trauma the community has suffered because of Mr. Herring’s extensive involvement in gang and gun violence.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included a picture mistakenly identifying brothers Ervan Herring and Michael Herring. The picture has been corrected.
Ervan is the father of Ervaeua Herring
Ervan Herring is the father of Ervaeua Herring, who was 21 and pregnant when she was ferociously gunned down on August 17, 2014. She was “shot and killed by a barrage of bullets fired from at least six different guns” at her Eastwood Village apartment on SE Powell, according to an affidavit filed by deputy district attorney Adam Gibbs in 2016.
When homicide detectives arrived at Herring’s apartment, they spoke with one of her neighbors. That woman told detectives that 3 gunmen had “burst” into her apartment shortly before the shooting.
The gunmen “…pointed guns at her and her children, and demanded to know where ‘Dre Steves’ was,” according to Gibbs’ affidavit.
Documents reveal details of Ervaeua Herring case
‘Slap on the wrist’: Ervaeua Herring’s killer sentenced
The neighbor was able to tell detectives that in addition to the 3 men inside her apartment, there were 4 men standing outside. She said the men outside were also armed.
The woman told the gunmen that Dre Steves did not live there.
“When the gunmen demanded to know which apartment was Dre Steves’, [the woman] pointed to the sliding glass door belonging to Ervaeua Herring,” court documents said.
The true name of “Dre Steves” is Deandre Stephens – a documented member of the Woodlawn Park Blood criminal street gang, according to court documents. Stephens was Herring’s boyfriend.
Before the gunmen left the woman’s apartment, they took her phone and “very shortly thereafter, gunfire erupted in the backyard of the apartment complex,” according to court documents.
Ervaeua Herring’s killing sparked a major escalation in gang shootings in the Portland metro area.
In all 6 people were arrested in connection with her death.
Jeffrey Lamont Sims was initially charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in July 2019, almost 5 years after the shooting death of the pregnant 21-year-old in her Eastwood Village Apartment.